Click here for Part I

Reenvisioning the complexity and security of enterprise mobile development

Brendan McCorkle is the CEO of CloudMine. Headquartered in Philadelphia, with offices in Boston and San Francisco, CloudMine aims to reduce the complexity of backend development for enterprises everywhere. The platform emphasizes mobile performance as well as security and compliance, allowing organizations in a variety of highly-regulated industries to launch mobile initiatives quickly and reliably. Prior to starting CloudMine, Brendan founded Fourth Power Solutions, Textaurant, and the Free Beer Company. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate program of Technology Management.

Brendan McCorkle spoke with Jeff Mack, Executive Managing Director at Newmark Grubb Frank, for this interview.

JEFF MACK: You started a few companies before CloudMine. What did you learn from those experiences?

BRENDAN MCCORKLE: The first couple I did didn’t work, or else it would probably be a different question about my background, so I think that’s actually really important. There’s a lot of talk in entrepreneurship about failing faster, failing inexpensively, or failing forward, and all of these are that what we’re doing is really hard and it works far less often than it does, but the only really bad thing is not learning from it. All of those experiences prior to CloudMine didn’t really work beyond the fact that they were incredibly informative. I learned years worth of professional and personal lessons that have now shaped how we’re building CloudMine, how I interact with my partners—even the fact that I need partners, which is no small one—all came from trying to doing it on my own and really that didn’t go well. I think in a lot of the things that we talk about internally at CloudMine, it’s very true for partnership, which is there needs to be balance. Marc, Ilya, and I have very different personalities and I think sometimes that’s good, although with three there are unique challenges because it’s easy to have two ganging up on the other one. That often rotates, so it’s not always the same two, which is sort of depending on what you’re talking about, but there’s an opportunity to be both encouragement and a check on the other person. It’s an interesting dance because, depending on what you’re talking about, you may disagree violently or you may say, you know, “Okay we’re almost thinking in each other’s heads so why are we even talking?” Or completing each other’s sentences and let’s go, “why are we even having this conversation? Of course we agree.” So, it’s an interesting mix, but this stuff is really hard. I think right now people like to talk about how sexy entrepreneurship is. People don’t like to talk about how hard it is. And so having a partner, if nothing else, is you have someone who is in the trenches with you and they’re also doing the stuff that’s really hard. They know it and you know it, and there’s a lot of support. That’s one of the most powerful parts.

ABOUT NEWMARK GRUBB KNIGHT FRANK

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) is one of the world's leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NGKF’s 12,800 professionals operate from more than 370 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents.

With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NGKF’s full-service platform comprises BGC’s real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing; capital markets services, including investment sales, debt placement, appraisal, and valuation services; commercial mortgage brokerage services; as well as corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, and property and corporate facilities management services. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.

NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets. BGC’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: BGCP). BGC also has an outstanding bond issuance of Senior Notes due June 15, 2042, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (NYSE: BGCA). BGC Partners is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick. For more information, please visit www.bgcpartners.com.

Visit CloudMine's Website for more information.

Jeffrey E. Mack, Executive Managing Director

Jeffrey E. Mack is a senior leader in Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's Philadelphia operation. Jeff has been a significant member of the commercial brokerage community in Philadelphia since 1979. He co-founded Smith Mack & Co. in 1984 and has continued to lease and sell more suburban office space than any other individual agent. He served as past chairman of the Philadelphia Board of Realtors, commercial and industrial division. NGKF acquired Smith Mack & Co. in 2012.

Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contact edwin.warfield@citybuzz.co

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